Brooks Brothers found their marketing mojo.
I’ve not noticed this showing up on the Brooks Brothers website yet, but it’s an unexpected display of marketing acumen on their part. This is the Brooks Brothers Mad Men suit designed not by Thom Browne (thank God) but the show’s costume designer, Janie Bryant.
Since I can’t find a description of the suit on Brooks’ website yet, I’ll crib this one from Uncrate:
What would you pay to be Don Draper or Roger Sterling? How about to look like them? The Brooks Brothers Mad Men Edition Suit ($1,000; October 19) pays homage to AMC’s hit show with a medium gray sharkskin suit designed by Janie Bryant, the Emmy-nominated costume designer for the show, and is modeled after Draper’s and Sterling’s wardrobes. Features include a noticeably slim cut, diagonal pockets, narrower notch lapels, and side vents. Limited to just 250, the suit is made in a Brooks-owned factory in Massachusetts, and while it might be more classically stylish than your current attire, don’t expect it to magically turn you into Jon Hamm.
Speaking of Mad Men, Don Draper was recently selected as AskMen.com’s Most Influential Man of 2009. Quite an honor for someone who doesn’t actually exist to be considered so influential. From AMC’s Mad Men blog:
“Men are seeking the stability of tradition in the masculine qualities that they imagine their fathers and grandfathers to have had,” says James Bassil, AskMen’s editor-in-chief. “The character of Don Draper brings all these traits together, and in doing so speaks directly to the modern man. He’s a man whose time has come.”
I’m not certain we should be adopting all of Don’s traits, but I’d be pleased if the show’s style caught on. (The narrow ties and lapels are a bit too narrow for my taste, but you know what I mean.)
If nothing else, if Mad Men inspires a few men to purchase their first fedora and wear it with pride and confidence, I will consider it a Very Good Thing. And besides, when you contemplate Don’s style and influence, remember what Don goes home to. When he goes home, that is…
